Condition update on accident victims

An off-duty Madison police officer who was injured in a collision with a semi truck in Minnesota is expected to return home at the end of the week.

Chief Dan Thurston said Lt. Wayne Phillips, 43, has undergone two hip surgeries for injuries suffered during the crash, which occurred on Jan. 3.

Phillips, who was a passenger in a GMC pick-up truck carrying four people, was taken to a hospital in Duluth, Minn., for treatment following the accident.

"We're expecting a 100 percent recovery," Thurston said, though he added that Phillips likely would face several months of physical therapy.

Nicholas Phillips, 26, of Greenwood who formerly lived in Madison, was seriously injured and put into a medically induced coma for brain swelling. According to a caringbridge.org entry from his family, Phillips has been accepted to the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana in Indianapolis and is expected to be transfered as soon as today.

The vehicle's driver, John K. Wallace, 29, who is the son of Jefferson County Sheriff John I. Wallace, was treated and released.

Another passenger, James Leveille, of Greenwood and also formerly of Madison, suffered stomach lacerations from his seatbelt.